Moving to a new server - what should I do

Alright, since screwing this up would be... bad... I figure I'd ask first.

I'm moving from an old server to a new server. Everything will be the same on the new server, except the IP - that is, all the accounts should end up the same, all the parked domains, etc.

How do I move everything over in the minimum of time?

My primary concerns are setting the server hostname (this can be different from the old, heck if I care) and the DNS servers.

Currently, ns1.domain.com and ns2.domain.com are on the old server - they need to be moved to the new server - should I just, when I'm ready to go, go to my domain supplier and switch the nameserver IP's to the new IP's when I'm ready to go, then assign them in WHM setup? Will this even work? Is there a better way?

PartnerNOC

you can set your second server identical to your old without worryes (except ip's of course). then, just add new ip's to your old server and then change ip's for your nameservers. this method will give you mimium downtime. you also may set less TTL time in your dns zones files, but this is not required.
Note. This method will not work correct if you move server under same subnet.

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you can set your second server identical to your old without worryes (except ip's of course). then, just add new ip's to your old server and then change ip's for your nameservers. this method will give you mimium downtime. you also may set less TTL time in your dns zones files, but this is not required.
Note. This method will not work correct if you move server under same subnet.

PartnerNOC

Yes, exactly. If you have not great experince this is easyst way because all done by WHM. First add new ip on OLD server and then change old ip's in A type records for your domain on OLD server. You may do this by using WHM - Multiply account operation - Change ip address or by using following command:

cd /var/named
perl -pi -e "s/old ip/new ip/g" *.db

Or if you have a more experience you may use more complex method (transparent ip forwarding) but this require additional work with iptables (if you on linux) and in some case do not work correct .

https://robobill.net
US dedicated, Europe and Asia and Russia dedicated server. Shared, Reseller, VPS hosting in US and Europe.
We are RESELLER of dedicated servers since 2002.

PartnerNOC

If it's really important that you have minimal downtime on web and mail and you don't mind doing a little work on the command line then take a look at this short howto I wrote on port forwarding from your old IP's to the new ones: